Am I Overstocked?

[Spishkey]

am just wondering if anyone can help. im thinking i may have to many fish, and with all the babies that are growing i fear i will have to find new homes for some?

the list i have is in my sig.

It is a 180Litre Juwel aquarium. i have about 18 fry. will i have to rehome them if the all survive?

Do i have to rehome any of my others or is that amount of fish ok for that size tank?

 

[ox5477]

Word of caution, in nature, neons are natural food for angels so watch the angels as they grow... some members have successfully kept them together, but one day you may find a neon or two missing.

What species are the 18 babies?

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

the 18 fry are
10 platy
8 corydora



my other platy lady is due to drop in the next week or so but i think i shall leave any fry i the tank to fend for themselves


so i may need to get the neons out of there? oops!

 

[ox5477]

I wouldnt be suprised if most of the fry get eaten. If you dont wanna save them then just leave them in the tank. If enough do survive then find a friend with a nice cichlid tank. These guys would make excellent feeders.

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

as for the other fish, they are ok, theres not too many?

 

[ox5477]

Another word on the angels, if they pair when they grow, they will pester and possibly kill some of the other stocking in the tank as cichlids become very territorial around their eggs and offsrping.

What species is the plec as well? If it is a common (which it usually is) then this fish can seriously get monstorous. A conservitive adult size would be 16 to 18"... far bigger than your tank can handle. Its fine for now but as it begins to grow, it will become more aggressive around food and will start chasing other fish away. At that point, I would try to take back to the lfs or give to a friend with a bigger tank for it.

If it isnt a common its prob a bristlenose as this is next most common plec in the trade. I would say that would be fine for life.

Ox

 

[rossyboy]

I'm pretty sure you'll definately need to thin down the Cory levels once they're a bit older!

 

[Spishkey]

it is a common plec.

how long does it take them to grow to their large size?

in the future (as a christmas present hopefully) we are looking for a Juwel 400 litre tank but that wont be for a fair few months! i guessing it will still be small by then! would it fit in the larger tank when its full grown? (think the juwel 400's are 2 metres long nearly?)

 

[rabbut]

With the right conditions, common plecs should gain an inch in length each month, untill they reach 12 inches, and then they slow down to an inch every other month untill full grown; so they are fairly quick growers. The Rio 400 won't be about at the point he needs it. If his growth rate drops (or is less than an inche a month to begin with) before 12 inches, he is starting to get stunted and needs moving on, preferable within 2 weeks

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Spishkey]

i may have to ask for the tank for my birthday then

he is around 2 inches now i estimate.


i wish some of these fish store staff would be a bit more knowledgable when handing out fish ok i should have done some more homework myself but i asked for something to help with the algae that would be fine for a 180L tank


ah well mr monster lets see what the future brings!


thank you for all your help, and im glad i found out about the pleco now rather than later on down the line

 

[ox5477]

A word on algae too... this is an interesting occurances that we call them algae eaters. In the wild, they would eat the native algaes of the amazonian river, but we cannot produce the same algaes and conditions that they live in in nature so we must actually feed them food as we do the rest of our fish. Algae wafers are the most common and prob best food for the plec to eat every day. They can also take catfish sinking pellets and veggies like cucumber and peas. I have even caught mine snagging a krill when I feed my cichlids. So like most fish, they are very opportunistic eaters, but a veggie based diet is best as this is what they consume in nature.

Ox

 

[Spishkey]

yes he has algae wafers and the occasional chunk of lettuce/cucumber and even scoffs the peas!

 

[rabbut]

second that post by OX